Page 17 of Heartless

While she started nodding, her friend stood up.“Nana, let’s go home.”

I kept my hold on the Morrison girl.“Give me your cell, Sienna.”After inputting my number, I handed it back to her.“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Her face flushed.“I’m looking forward to it.”

Like taking candies from a baby.

Ten minutes later, Sile and I escorted both girls to a car.

When she waved from the back seat window, Sile scoffed.“You’re in, brother.”He slapped his hand on my shoulder.“I’m in the mood for no-string pussy.”

After that first-base bullshit, I needed a raw fuck.We headed back to the club where after a couple of drinks, I took a busty blonde with a great mouth to the bathroom.

****

The doors of the elevatorleading to the penthouse hissed closed behind me, and the hairs on the back of my neck raised.Without turning the lights on, I opened the cache underneath the alarm system and pulled out my gun.

A voice I recognized cut through the darkness.

“Still have good instincts, son.”

I lowered the gun and turned the lights on to find Zook comfortably settled in the armchair by the shut curtains of the terrace.The stocky older man was swirling his tumbler full of my Woodford Reserve twenty-five bourbon.

After placing my Glock back in the cache, I sat in the armchair across from him.Zook was old-school, and if there was something he deemed important, he communicated it face to face.

The whir of the elevator alerted me of an incoming visitor, and Zook said, “I called Silas.”

Once Sile sat on the arm of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, Zook started.“Edo has taken an interest in Sienna Winslow.”

Fuck.Edoardo Conti was a feared man for good reasons, but he also had a code of honor, and the girl was my marker.

“Why?”

“The harbor master is Morrison’s bitch, and The Family needed some shipment to go undetected.They were also paying Morrison generously for the use of his shipping containers.”

The greedy motherfucker didn’t fucking know who he was playing with.

“What happened?”

“He wanted a percentage of the sale of the cargo.Edo refused, and the son of a bitch ratted them out to the Feds.There was a raid two weeks ago, and Carlo was shot.He’s in critical condition.If he dies, my brother will want his pound of flesh.”

“Fuck,” Sile muttered.

Carlo was Edoardo’s oldest son and the heir to his empire.Bad news for Morrison.

Zook continued.“They know his daughter was seen cozying up to you at the Shell.She’s your marker, and we heard the kid just lost her mama, so they’re conflicted about her getting dead in the crossfire.”

I got on my feet.“Give me a couple of weeks.”

Zook grunted.“Son, I’ve seen your M.O.with the Morrison women.Fucking her won’t stop her from wanting a relationship with her rich father.”

“It will if she’s in love with me.Then, I’ll take her away.She’ll be out of the crossfire while I use her to put pressure on the motherfucker.It’s a win-win.”

Leonardo ‘Zucchero’ Conti inclined his head.“Two birds, one stone.I like it.I’ll get you the file on her.”

After he’d left, Sile tagged a couple of beers from the bar.“In love with you, Jakey?Two weeks is fast.Even for you, loverboy.”

“Have you seen her tonight?She’ll crawl on all fours to fetch my slippers in a week.”